NEEDLE. 331 NEENAH. Hand needles are laij,'ely made in Germany
- ui(l Knglanil. Aix-la-Cliapclle is the (fenlre of
I lie industry in Uerniany, and il is said that the iirtnries of that city alone produce 50,000,000 weekly. Xeedles for use in various maeliines are made in the I'nited States, especially those for the ordinary domestic sewing machine. At first these needles were made by processes similar to those omploved for making ordinary hand-sewingneedles. hut gradually special machinery has been invented I'lir ihcir manufacture. The process is essentially
- !-. follows: The wire is cut into a blaids, which is
then r<'duced and pointed, grooved, has its eye ]iunclied, is hardened and tempered, hard burr dressed, brass brushed, has its eye polished, undergoes a first inspection, is hard straightened, and then receives the final pointing. In one method of making sewing-machine needles by nuiehinery the crucible steel wire from which the needle is formed is first straightened and then fed into a machine which makes the large end of the needle and cuts off the blanks of the lengths reipiircd. These blanks after being ground and polished with emery wheels and an emery belt ])ass from a hojiper on to a grooveil endless travel- ing carrier, where the shank of the needle is formed by the grinding action of an emery wheel. By successive wheels the needles are ground and pointed and then grooves are cut by steel saws and the eyes punched. They are then heated and hardened ami cleaned first by emery and then by wire brushes and burnishing powder ap|)lied from .a bristle brush. The final pointing is done on a fine emery wheel and the last polishing is accomplished with crocus and alcohol. A second method differs from that just described in that the steel wire is cut into blanks of about one- third the length of the finished needle. After a thorough cleaning these blanks are fed from a hop])er into a machine Avhere they are acted upon by steel dies which compress and extend the blank. This process is known as swaging and produces needles which vary slightly in length. This defect, however, is remedied by the action of a clipping and straightening machine which reduces the needles to a luiiform size. Statistics. According to the Vnited States Statistical Abstract for inOO the value of the needles imported into the T'nited States is as follows: ISni. .$.314.03.3; 1802. .$3.37 .'272; 1893, $3(i0.4(i.) : 1804, .$278,101; 180;), .$21)1.020; 1806, $312,208; 1807. $300.7.">4: 1898, $3r)2.li0(i; 1809, .$407. 74(!; 1000, $307,508. According to the Twclflh United States Census, 1„120,532 gross of needles were manufactured in the I'nited States in lOOO. The total value of this product is given as $1,027,040. which is distributed as fol- lows: Latch knitting-machine needles, 276,141 gross, valued at $414,504; common household ^iwing-maehinc needles. 324.476 gross, valued at .^300.252 ; wax-thread sewing-machine needles, 212.640 gross, jit $00,533; knitting spring needles. 307.266 gross, at $114,660. In addition, about 277.000 gross of needles, valued at .$327,000, are annually produced incidentally in factories not specially engaged in their manufacture in connec- tion W'ith other industries. It will he noticed that this list does not include conunon hand sewing and darning needles, crochet, tape, and hand- knitting needles, and it ap])ears that none of these varieties were included in the 1000 census returns of manufactures in the United States. VuL. XIV. -22. Consult article on "Needles and Pins," in Twelfth Census of U. >S'., vol. x., Manufactures, part iv, (Washington, 1902). NEEDLEFISH (so called from the shape of the snout). A gar like fish of the .synentogna- tlious family Ksocida-, and especially of the genus Tylosurus. They are slim, long-jawed, vora- cious, carnivorous fishes found in all warm seas, and sometimes entering rivers. Their habits are ordinarily much like those of a pike. (See Plate of Xeeulefisii. Pikes, etc.) Their flesh is good. Some si)ecies are ninnerous on the Soith .Atlantic and Gulf coasts, wher(! thej' are confounded with the true gars, under the names 'garfish' and 'bill- fish' (especially Tylnsurits marintisi) , and are also called 'aguja' (q.v.), 'long-jaws,' 'homid- fish,' and 'guardfish.' Consult .Jordan and For- dice. Proceedinr/s of the United States National Museum for 1886. NEEDLE GUN. See Small Arms. NEEF, nfif. or NEEFS, nafs, Pieteb, the Elder (C.15S0-C.1601 ). A Dutch architectural liainter. He was born at Antwerp, and was there a pupil of Hendrick van Stcenwyck. His numerous architectural jiaintings usually represent church interiors illuminated with the glow of torches or of candles. His treatment was delicate, refined, and extraordinarily clear; he understood the harmonious modulation of colors and the power of chiaroscuro, but he generally intrusted the painting of the figures introduced into his pictures to Tenters, Franks, Breughel, and Van Thulden. His works are to be found In the galleries of Dresden, Vienna, Paris, and Gotha. NEELE, nel, Henry (1798-1828). An Eng- glish writer, born in London. He was admitted to the bar. and practiced as a solicitor. From the successful appearance of his Odes and Other Poems (1817), printed during his clerkship, he was a busy contributor to various journals and the annuals. In 1827 he gave first at the Russell Institution, and later at the Western Literary Institution, his Lectures on Encjlish Poctri/. ex- tending from Chaucer to Cowper. His most im- portant publication was the Pomnnce of Euf/lish Ilistori/ (3 vols., 1827), a collection of stories based on occurrences in each reign from the Conquest to the Picformation. marred by a stilted style and historical inaccuracies. In the same year his poems were gathered in a two-volume edition. His ver.se has no higher (jualities than spontaneity and ease. His stories, at their best, are marked by considerable imaginative skill. His Literari/ Remains, including the Lectures, appeared posthumously (1820), with a memoir. The Winter "Sights (London. 1820) of Nathan Drake contains (No. xiii.. vol. ii.) "Critical Ob- servations" on the Odes and Other Poems, asso- ciating Neele with Chatterton and Kirke White. NEENAH, ne'na. A city in Winnebago County. Wis.. 14 miles north of Oshkosh. the county-seat; on the Fox River, at the outlet of Lake Winnebago, and on the Chicago and North- western, the Chicago. ^lilwaukce and Saint Paul, and the Wisconsin Central railroads (Map: Wisconsin. E 4). It is an attractive summer resort, well known for its fishing, and has a public library, a handsome opera house, and sev- eral public parks, the most notable being River- side Park. The river, which alforils fine water
